Friday, October 30, 2015

My second solo show with Gould Galleries is now up and running.The show is called W I L D and in this body of work, created over the past two and half years, I really have gone wild - in material, form and content. The show follows my first exhibitionwith Gould Galleries, SANCTUARY TOO, which was held in May-June 2013.This body of work continues my passion for collecting and reclaiming discarded needlework and also introduces other materials, such as paper, in the form of reclaimed book illustrations and a 'porcelain garden' of discarded ceramic flowers and birds, collected over the past year. Some works also include elements commissioned from a glass-blower and an expert cushion maker. My first large 3-dimensional work, "Let the Jungle In" which won the Yering Sculpture Award in 2013 will also have another outing.Unlike SANCTUARY TOO which was a cohesive exhibition in terms of imagery, materials and technique, WILD is more eclectic and in regard to some of the three-dimensional works and installations more experimental - in other words, its wilder! As with SANCTUARY TOO, this exhibition continues my interest in celebrating and reconstructing discarded domestic materials and drawing a link between the domestic archives of home and the public archives of the museum and library. Several works reinterpret historical paintings of flora and the human figure immersed in flora.I do hope you will be able to see the show during its run at Gould Galleries 270 Toorak Road, South Yarra 9872 8482 - until 5pm on Saturday 5th December 2015.For images of some of works in the exhibition, please visit the WILD Gallery on my website.NEW FILM For now I'd love it if you spentfour minutes viewing a short film of my studio practice, made by a talented young Melbourne filmmaker Lily Youngsmith, titled Louise Saxton Assemblage. You can view it on Youtube or on my website "About" page.

Installation Shots of a portion of WILD at Gould Galleries by Gavin Hansford

Friday, August 14, 2015

Petto di Flora - Flora's breast (in Italian) Making progress on my reinterpretation of a portion of Giuseppe Arcimboldo's Flora meretrix, painted in c.1590 - it's slow but we are getting there…(I say "we" because I feel like the original embroiderers and the original artist are collaborating, silently, with me!)Today I took her tulle backing down from the wall and have begun extracting the different sections and pinning them to the museum mount board. I'm using vintage velvet for the background in the top left corner - a deep midnight blue which will be overlaid with antique black lace; Mason's regalia brass thread embroidery for the hair (which, in the original painting, Arcimboldo references Octopus' tentacles!) and; everything else is reclaimed embroidery and lace. The collar of her garment will be made of white flowers that are set in relief from the rest of the work.http//:www.louisesaxton.com/journal

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

"Frida" is complete and captured here by my wonderful photographer of 14 years, Gavin Hansford.I refer to the work affectionately as Frida, but it is actually titled "Desnuda y Flores (nude and flowers) 2015 after Diego Rivera 1944". Reclaimed needlework (Tehuantapec embroidery from Mexico, antique lace doilies from NYC, vintage cross stitch from Boston, pinned to nylon tulle and silk using lace and beading pins and mounted in relief on museum board H1360 x W880 cm)Here are Gavin's photos of Frida and me pinning her to the mount board, and also a link to the journal article on my website:

Saturday, July 25, 2015

I have recently embarked on a new work in reclaimed needlework, which reinterprets the crazily beautiful, English Surrealist-inspired painting by Adrian Feint "Happy Landing" 1944 (collection Art Gallery of South Australia)Please go to my website: louisesaxton.com for details on why I've chosen this particular painting and photos of my work-in-progress

Thursday, June 18, 2015

I am in love…. with this painting of the Roman Goddess of Spring, flowers and fertility, "Flora-Meretrix", by Giuseppe Arcimboldo (1526-1593). This is the more sensual version of his Flora paintings and I love the way he softened the flowers to create a sense of flesh (almost as if she were wearing a lacey body stocking) and in contrast, he gave the other flowers, which create her hair and garment, a sense of hyper-reality. What a challenge it would be to reinterpret even a detail of this glorious painting, in reclaimed embroidery.When I was in Paris in 2010 I walked through miles of galleries in the Louvre to see the Arcimboldo paintings, only to learn that they were all on loan to Madrid. I was quite disappointed. This particular painting has always been held in private collections and has only been exhibited to the public once in four hundred years - in Vienna in 2014. What I wouldn't have given to have seen her in the flesh!(http://musea.today/2014/10/20/exhibition-giuseppe-arcimboldo-khm-vienna/)

Saturday, June 6, 2015

Greetings from the studio above the discount shop, on the High street in East Kew, Victoria, Australia!I've been in this lovely space, with north facing windows which is wonderful in winter, for nine years now. The shop downstairs has changed hands recently and while I miss my previous "land-lady" the new owner is happy for a low-rent paying artist to scratch away in her 'bower' upstairs. Posting a few photos of the studio filled with the materials I use for my artwork and other objects I also collect in the local charity shops, which inspire and "embower" my creative space.

Friday, April 10, 2015

It's been an age since I wrote here, probably because I spend more time on my website Journal, which is a diary type blog. So please feel free to wander over there for a look-see at all my recent goings on:http://www.louisesaxton.comI'm back here today to share some great photos taken by my dear friend and photographer of 15 years Gavin Hansford, who as well as being a great documenter of other artists work, is a fabulous landscape photographer in his own right www.gavinhansford.com.au

The most recent pieces shown below have just been completed for my show later in the year at Gould Galleries (now scheduled for November) www.gouldgalleries.comVanitas #1 - The Bather 2015Reclaimed needlework, brass beading pins on museum board92 x 98 cmVanitas 1 & 2 are inspired by the paintings of Herman Henstenburgh (1667-1726).I named Vanitas #1 The Bather, as it reminds me of the floral caps my mother's generation wore to keep their hair and ears dry when bathing! It is filled with exquisite embroidered motifs including silk Eagles with a sunset from China, cross-stitched Hummingbirds, roses found in a NYC flea market, French knotted roses from France, Australian native flora and fauna and some exquisite Art Nouveau silk poppies.

Vanitas #2 - The Twitcher 2015Reclaimed needlework, brass beading pins on museum board92 x 98 cmI named this work The Twitcher as it is filled with embroidered birds of all sorts, colours and sizes, from different parts of the globe - America, Australia, China, England, Palestine andVietnam

Vanitas #3 - The Storyteller 2015Reclaimed needlework, brass beading pins on museum board98 x 92 cmI named this Vanitas - The Storyteller as it is based on a fetal skull (yes creepy I know!) and is filled with embroidered motifs which in some way reference childhood and storytelling - the bluebirds of happiness, the Koalas of Blinky Bill, Mexican people and animals, a Beatrix Potter rabbit, a Pirate with his parrot, gun, lantern and treasure, some cute puppies and a Spanish Galleon!

Sunday, January 4, 2015

This new work-in-progress is my homage to the residency I undertook in Mexico in August 2014. It takes its inspiration from Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo and uses the exquisite and quite rare Tehuantapec hand embroidery from Oaxaca, Mexico, that I purchased during my residency in Jalisco. There is also a unique hand-embroidered silk Bird of Paradise stem with buds, which I commissioned from a local embroiderer named Lopita.For full details of this work in progress please see: Louise Saxton website

About Me

I am an artist whose practise entails salvaging and reconstructing detritus from the home, including vintage wallpapers, envelope linings and discarded textiles. This blog includes occasional updates on my arts practice which are linked to 'journal' on my website:
http//:www.louisesaxton.com
There is a shop on the website which sells limited edition prints of my textile assemblage works.
I am represented by Gould Galleries, Melbourne http//:www.gouldgalleries.com